


Reject the System Dictating the Norms

by I_have_a_Mycroft_of_my_very_own



Series: Not-Quite-A-Warlock [7]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Immortal Alec Lightwood, Reunion, This one is just sad, and maybe a little dark??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 09:40:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14767142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_have_a_Mycroft_of_my_very_own/pseuds/I_have_a_Mycroft_of_my_very_own
Summary: In which a reunion goes not at all how anyone hoped, and a gauntlet is thrown down.





	Reject the System Dictating the Norms

**Author's Note:**

> So, there has been a time skip with this, it's AFTER the Warlocks have withdrawn from the Accords.

 

 

_From dehumanization to arms production,_  
_For the benefit of the nation or its destruction._

  _Power, power, the law of the land,_  
_Those living for death will die by their own hand,_  
_Life's no ordeal if you come to terms,_  
_Reject the system dictating the norms._

~Annihilation, A Perfect Circle

* * *

“Izzy, I’m sorry, I can’t help you.” Magnus says, as he walks through the door of his loft, phone held tightly in his hand. Alec, who had been dozing on the couch, shoots to his feet, hair mussed as he looks at Magnus with dark eyes, he holds his hand up and magic crackles at the tips of his fingers, blue-gold like an angel’s grace.

“Why not, Magnus?” Izzy asks, her voice distorting slightly from Alec’s magic, allowing him to hear the conversation as well, but Izzy to only hear Magnus.

“You know we have pulled out of the Accords, Izzy.” Magnus tells her, walking out onto the balcony, spinning and leaning against the barrier, to watch Alec watching him. “We’re to have no dealings with the Clave, outside of personal interest.”

“You’ve helped us in the past.”

“Yes, before my War Master severed our ties.” Magnus explains, Alec frowns at him.

“You can help her, if you want.” Alec tells him, Magnus glares and mouths ‘you’re the one who made the decree!’, Alec shrugs, “I can unmake the decree for you, Magnus.”

“I’ll ask, Izzy. That’s the only thing I can do.”

“Please, Magnus.”

“I’ll call you back.” Magnus tells her, hanging up the phone, and throwing his hands in the air at Alec. “What the hell, Alec? You told all of us we couldn’t have any dealings with the Clave outside social meetings.”

“Yeah, and I just gave you permission, as your War Master, to go help _Izzy_ if you want. I don’t care what the _Clave_ wants, but if Izzy wants your help, and it’s not something that’ll compromise our relationship with the other Downworlders, you can help her. As your boyfriend, I don’t want you to destroy any friendships because of me. And as her brother, I’d be happier knowing you’re watching her back.” Alec explains, crossing his arms over his chest. “Besides, I want to keep as many bridges as we can with the Shadowhunters, so that once the Clave is gone, there are friendly Shadowhunters to step in and take charge, to make something that I won’t have to go and tear down in a thousand years or so. I’ve told all the others to check with me before they offer any aid.”

“Sometimes you do my head in.” Magnus tells him, with a sigh. “I’ll go and see what Izzy wants.” He mutters, forming a portal, just before he steps into it, he stops, turns and glares at Alec. “Also, please tell me you’re going to remove Lorenzo as High Warlock.” Alec laughs at the question and narrows his eyes in thought.

“I might. He’s young, maybe too young. But it won’t be you.” Alec says, Magnus blinks in surprise.

“I wouldn’t expect-“

“Good, because while we’re together, the only title I can offer you is War Mage, and we’d have to get married for that, and we’re not ready yet.”

“No, definitely not.” Magnus agrees, before smiling. “But someday soon.”

“Yes, soon.” Alec answers, smiling pleasantly at him. “Now go on, see what my little sister wants.”

“As my War Master commands.” Magnus tells him, bowing and backing into the portal. Alec laughs, and when the portal dissipates, he takes a deep breath in and sits back down on the couch, looking pensive.

* * *

One Hell Rift later, and Magnus stumbles back to his loft, three annoying Shadowhunters in tow, he’s already sent a panicked text along to Alec, letting him know that they’d have guests, and then he spent the entire journey back to the Loft trying to convince his tag-alongs to go home.

“Honestly, I’m fine. It was just a little rift. Nothing a good sleep won’t fix. You don’t have to walk me home.”

“I doubt your War Master would be pleased if we just left you, magically exhausted, to find your way home.” Izzy tells him, looping her arm through his. “Come on, Magnus. You’re our friend, let us take care of you.”

“I’m fine, Izzy.”

“You know, I really think you are. I’m glad. I was scared for awhile there, that you were going to find some way to shuffle off your immortal coil, and I’d have to explain to Alec when we found him, that you were gone. But, I don’t know, these last few weeks, you’ve been better.” Izzy says, giving him a pleased smile. “I’m glad, and I hope you’ll let us meet them.”

“W-who?” Magnus asks, his heart flipping in his chest, has he been so obvious?

“The guy or gal or other who is healing your heart, Magnus.” Clary chimes in, smiling at him. “They’re good for you, I’ve seen you smile more times these last few weeks than I have in the last five years.”

“Oh.” Magnus whispers, and is relieved when his loft comes into sight, hopefully Alec has made himself scarce.

Alas, it is not to be.

* * *

Magnus is trying to convince the Shadowhunters that they really, most definitely do not need to come in and tuck him in bed, that’s he’s perfectly fine to take care of himself now, when all the Shadowhunters stop and stare at something over Magnus’ shoulder, and he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath in and spins on his heel, opening his eyes to see Alec leaning in the doorway.

“Magnus, I trust you got everything sorted?” he asks, raising an eyebrow, Magnus scowls at him.

“Of course, just a little rift, no big deal.” He says, then narrows his eyes. “I _thought_ you weren’t going to do _this.”_ He says, waving his hands to indicate the Shadowhunters.

“Well, it was bound to happen at some point, Magnus, why not on my home ground?” Alec asks, smirking. Magnus’ lips twitch at the words, before he clears his throat and the glare returns.

“Fine.” He says, giving a resigned sigh and waving the Shadowhunters into his loft. “Let’s talk it all out.” he mutters, shutting the door behind them.

* * *

“When did you get back?” Jace asks, staring at his former _parabatai_ with something like relief and anger.

“Technically, I never left.” Alec replies, shrugging his shoulders. “Just got myself a little lost in time, lived my way through it.”

“You disappeared, Alec, and your runes…” Clary says, looking at the spots of exposed skin she can see, all without runes.

“Yeah, when you make deals with Greater Demons, you should probably read the fine print.” Alec retorts, an amused smile on his face. “And my name isn’t Alec, not anymore, not for thousands of years.”

“What?”

“Are you sure you want to-“ Magnus cuts in, stopping when Alec looks at him with a frown.

“They’re going to figure it out one way or another, Magnus. They can’t not, now that I’ve reasserted my power.” He explains, and Magnus nods in understanding, but he doesn’t look happy about it. “Besides, if the Clave goes after me, I’ll keep my promise, just a little earlier than I thought I would.”

“Alec?” Izzy asks, sounding scared and confused.

“I told you, my name isn’t Alec. It’s Aglæca.”

“You. You’re the War Master.” Izzy exclaims, a frown forming on her face. “How? The War Master is… thousands of years old, the oldest Warlock to ever walk the earth, the First. Alec, that’s not possible.”

“Greater Demons, Izzy.” Alec tells her, rolling his eyes. “I made a deal with Asmodeus to get Magnus’ magic back, in payment, he sent me back in time to the dawn of human kind, took my runes from me, and gave me his blood, his tainted angelic grace. I’m _not_ a Warlock, no one knows what I am, I am the only one of my kind, but the Warlock’s are mine, my people, have been since the very first one was born. They are _mine,_ mine to serve, mine to protect, mine to love, mine to die for, mine to live for. Mine to fight for. In times past, they called me their king, in modern times, they call me their War Master, their General.”

“They call you their salvation.” Jace says, a dark frown on his face. “I’ve heard them, whispering in the Hunter’s Moon, at the markets, they call you their saviour.”

“Yes, and they always have.” Alec answers, a dark look in his eyes. “They always have, but for the last thousand years, they also called me their destruction, their Doom Bringer, and I could never fault them for it.”

“Why?” Clary asks, cocking her head to the side, her brows furrowed.

“Because it was _I_ who summoned Raziel. And for a thousand years I have been paying for that decision with the blood of my people. No matter, though, because I’m going to make amends. I hope you won’t stand in my way, but I won’t let it stop me.”

“You’re talking about war.” Izzy whispers, horrified.

“No, if all goes to plan, there won’t be any bloodshed. The Clave and all its poisonous teachings will be destroyed, and the Shadowhunters can rebuild. Become what they were supposed to be, what Raziel and I wanted them to be.” Alec explains, frustration evident in his tone. “You were _never_ supposed to interfere with the Downworlders, Raziel created you to fight _demons_ , to protect this world from _demons_ , _not_ their children. Before you lot came along, we policed ourselves, of course, it was just us and the Seelie back then, and the occasional demon, but the vampires and the werewolves have their own ways of policing themselves. We didn’t need you, we _never_ needed you. No one ever asked you to step in and murder anyone who didn’t fall in line.” Alec snaps, Magnus’ loft starts shaking as Alec’s magic whips up around him, Magnus reaches out, places his hand on Alec’s wrist and squeezes.

“Calm down.” He whispers, pressing himself against Alec, absorbing what he can of Alec’s magic, to stifle it. “You don’t want to hurt them; your issue is with the Clave. You don’t want to harm them.” It takes a few moments, but Alec finally gets his magic under control, his breaths coming in heaving waves as the loft stops shaking.

“This was a bad idea.” Alec says, pulling away from Magnus, and backing away from all of them. “Magnus.” He whispers, and Magnus holds out his hand, creates a portal to the part of town he knows Alec has claimed for himself.

“I’ll text you, when they’re gone.” Magnus says, Alec nods at him, and throws himself through the portal. Magnus takes a deep breath in and turns to the Shadowhunters. “I tried to convince you not to come.” He tells them, taking in the way they all look _shattered._

“He’s not our Alec anymore, is he?” Izzy asks, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“No, and he hasn’t been for a very long time. He’s spent the last thousand years watching members of his blood family murder members of his chosen family.” Magnus tells them, a dark look in his eyes. “One way or another, one century or another, the Clave will fall. He will destroy it. He made an oath.”

“Why?” Clary asks, choking on the word.

“Because he remembers the world before the Clave and knows the world after it. Because he’s witnessed Clave brutality first hand, from both sides. Because one day, the Accords would have broken, and Shadowhunters would have returned to murdering Downworlders for their marks, and he would have had to go back to war, real war, anyway.

“We would never-“

“Maybe not you.” Magnus agrees, but shrugs his shoulders. “But Valentine, his followers, they wouldn’t have had any problems. All your parents followed him. All your parents want or wanted me, and my kind extinguished. It’s always been the greatest punishment for those like Luke, those who hated my kind and wanted to see us all destroyed, only to become like us. It was an unofficial order, during the Uprisings, for any vampire or werewolf, if they got the chance, they were to turn as many Circle members as they could. Make them like us. Unworthy. Tainted. A waste of air, and a waste of resources. Of course, we Warlocks got into it, too. You can turn a werewolf with a spell, just as easily as with a scratch.”

“That’s against the Accords.” Jace says, frowning.

“No longer part of the Accords, and the Clave can’t come after us anymore.” Magnus tells him, smirking. “Well, they could go after the vampires and werewolves, of course. But I hear the vampires are on the verge of pulling out, and the werewolves are in discussion with the Praetor about doing the same. Go after them now, and well, the decision will be made for them. The time of the Clave is over. You can tell them that, or don’t, we don’t care, it won’t stop us, either way.”

“Alec said there won’t be bloodshed.” Izzy points out, “How?”

“A Greater Demon took his runes away; a Greater Demon can do the same to all of you, if you get in his way.”

“Would they?”

“Yes, my dear, they would.” A familiar voice says, from the balcony, and Magnus turns quickly at the sound.

“Father.” He greets, a frown forming on his face.

“Magnus.” His father greets with an incline of his head, before turning to the Shadowhunters. “I’m quite over my brother’s little creations going around murdering my children, my nieces, my nephews, my grandchildren, and the amount of times they’ve nearly killed my boy.” He says, blinking and his eyes become golden cats’ eyes, so like Magnus’, like Magna’s. “Of course, I’d only have the power to do it in deal, but that’s no problem, I’m sure Aglæca will have something that I want.” He says, giving a vicious little smirk. “Or my brothers and sisters and I could combine our powers, it’s _our children_ you’re murdering, after all.”

“I didn’t realize you cared.” Jace snarks, Asmodeus glares at him.

“Of course, we care, every single child we have carries a piece of us, a piece of the spark that created us. When they die, we feel it. When they hurt, we feel it. When they are happy, we feel it. Every child we lose is a scar upon our immortal souls. You saw what Lilith did for her child, and he wasn’t even a child of her womb.” All three Shadowhunters flinch at the mention of the Mother of Demons, and Asmodeus laughs. “Now she is formidable, that’s never been in question, but she was a human woman once, just a human, frail and weak, and so very mortal. My brothers and sisters and I, however, we began life as angels. Our first children were Nephilim, _True Nephilim,_ none of them exist now, just you lot, running around making a _mockery_ of them. I could kill the lot of you just for the _insult!”_ he snaps, the loft shaking with the power of his voice.

“Father.” Magnus interrupts, his glamour falling as he reaches for his magic.

“Oh, calm yourself, little one. No one is dying today, I’m just here to impart a message.” He holds out his hand, a ball of flame leaps to life in his palm, he blows on it and the flame flies across the room to float leisurely in front of Isabelle. “When the flame dies, the Clave dies with it. Make peace with this and decide what kind of life you want to live, or _we_ will make the decision for you. It is time to follow your calling, or to find your end.” Asmodeus intones, before seeming to blow away on an invisible wind.

“ _Great_. Good chat.” Magnus mutters, shaking his head, he turns to look at the Shadowhunters, a frown on his face. “You should probably go tell the Clave that the Greater Demons aren’t actually trapped in their respective Hells.”

“What?”

“I was meaning to mention it a few weeks ago, but I’ve been distracted, you know, by my long-lost boyfriend coming back into my life as the War Master of Warlock Legend? But, anyway, the Greater Demons, they pretty much come and go as they please, always have.” Magnus says, forming a portal for them to the Institute.

“Right. We’ll-we’ll talk about this again later.”

“We really won’t.” Magnus tells her, shaking his head. “There’s nothing left to talk about.” He says, before waving the portal at the Shadowhunters and letting out an exhausted huff when they’re finally gone. He sends Alec a text, letting him know the loft is now a safe space again, then goes to make himself a very alcoholic drink, and wait for his boyfriend to come home.

* * *

 _From dehumanization to arms production,_  
_To hasten this nation towards its destruction,_  
_It's your choice, your choice, your choice, your choice,_  
_Peace or annihilation._  
~Annihilation, A Perfect Circle


End file.
